Improvement in wax-thread sewing-machines



J. H. WALKER. WgX-Thread Sewing-Machine. No. 200,111.

Pafented'Feb. 5,

new,

\N TULEEEEE m11 amar.

N.FETERS. Pacto-LITHOGRAFNER. WASHmGTCN. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

l JOSEPH H. WALKER,OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN WAX-THREAD SEWING-MCHINES.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 200,11] dated February 5, 1878; application iiled April 25, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

5 Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. WALKER, of the city and county of Worcester, and Com- Vto the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which i Figure 1 represents an end view of so much of a sewing-machine as is necessary to illustrate my present invention or improvements.

Fig. 2 represents a section on line m Fig. 1, looking in the direction of arrow 1 of the same figure. Fig. 3 represents a front or side view of a portion of the parts shown in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of arrow 2 of the same gure. Figs. 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11 represent, upon an enlarged scale, certain portions or parts ofthe machine 5 and Figs. 5 and 9 also represent, upon an enlarged scale, samples of the work produced by said machine, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in detai The nature of my present improvements consists in certainl improvements in sewingmachines for manufacturing boots and shoes, as will be hereinafter described.

In the drawings, the part marked A represents the head of a sewing-machine used in the manufacture of boots and shoes and other leather goods; and it will be understood that in this class of sewing or 'stitching machines two or more needles, a, are usually employed, having barbs instead of eyes at their points, and a corresponding number .of awls, b, are used, the awls being forced down through the leather (when the needles and awls are arranged relatively as shown in the drawings) to form the holes therein, and when withdrawn the needles are forced up through such holes until. their barbs have passed up through and above the pieces or parts of leather, after which thread-carriers are operated to carry thethreads undertheirrespeetiveneedle-barbs, so that when the needles are drawn down through the leather the threads will be drawn down also, and looped upon the lower or under side of the leather, in the usual manner and it will not therefore be necessary'to describe further, in detail, the stitch-forming mechanism or the thread-tension mechanism. v

My improved thread-carrier B (represented in the drawings) is provided with three eyes, 1, 2, and 3, formed in the ends of projecting fingers, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. One end, 4, of the thread-carrier B is jointed at c to a link-piece, 5, which, in turn, is fitted to turn at el upon the lower end of an adjustable rod or bar, C, secured to the head of the machine A, so that it can be adjusted up or down by means of screws 6. The other end of the thread-carrier is jointed to the arm 7, thestem e of which passes through a hole in the head 8 on the lower end of the rod or bar C', which is supported in a larger bar or rod, C, fitted to turn in the head A of the machine, stem e being held in place by set-screws f, and bar C' is also held in place in a hole in the lower end of bar or rod C" by means of a set-screw, whereby rod C' can be adjusted up or down, or turned round independently of the bar C, and then fixed in position again.

The awls b are secured to the lower end of the rod C, which works up and down in the head A. When the needles a are thrown up to the proper height, .rod or bar C is rotated so as to throw the bent arm 7 toward link 5. Oonsequentlythe thread-carrier B is moved in the same direction, but, being hinged to both the arm 7 and link-piece 5 is retained in a horizontal position, and its eyes 1, 2, and3 all remain in the same relative vertical plane,

however much the carrier may be swung or moved toward the points of the needles a. This arrangement insures the threads being carried well around and under the barbs of the needles, and that, too, without'danger of breaking the points of the needles by the eye ends of the iingers of the thread-carrier B coming in contact with the needles during operation.

It will be observed that a thread-carrier thus supported at each end may haveany number of thread-eyes or thread-carrying ngers, and still they will all remain' in a verti cal plane, parallel with a vertical plane pass- Y i ing through the,vertical'centersof-the barsV GV In' Vlieu of Yhinging one: end ot thread-car- Y VrierB to 'the bent end 9'of.arnis7, itYmay be Y hinged to the shank end of arm 7 on: the sameY i Vline as the Vend e is hinged to ylink-piece' 5.V

j the threads being' pulled out of iplacewhile 1 new work V'is Y being adjusted in position and the 'stitching'rst eommencerhand to obviate y such objections and'inconveniences I combine 1 Y with thepressure-foot ofthe sewing-machine thread-'holder projecting from the back edge *of Vsaid foot,2 asindicated in the drawings. Y1 With this-projection I'combine two daring- 'Y jspringagg, one on each` side,"wherebythe #ends 160i' the 'threads canbe pulled Vup-bea VVtween the springs and theE projection D, and. Y Y there securely held bythe thread-'holden 1 Y Y i *Yf'lhe part Ymarked F is the needle-plate, aV plan view :of which Yis shown inldiga.V 1 The; Vneedle-plate F'(shown in Fig. (i) is provided: with three slots, h 7th, forthe'passage oirthe i Y awls and *needles during the operation of feeding and VsewingV thematerial. Said plate Yis j Y Salso provided 4uponitsupper sidewith side Y bars rf rf, the inner edges @which are parti-1 'i Ieiwith each etherfrom Vtin-.Ypen1-rsri1 mia; :andi diverging fromV cachV other freinthe'` 'Y points 12 to 13, Vand betweenwhich side bars;

Y a spring-hap, G, isarranged, rand soitted that Yit will spring down between the :said parallel'` Y and angular edges of the side bars, as fully in-` dicated in Figs.- 2, 6,YandY 10 of theYdrawings. Spring-flap G is provided with two ears or projections, z' i, which iit into notches in the.

outer ends of the bars F F', where they are held by means of screws 14.

The side bars F are wedge-shaped upon their upper sides-viz., inclined down from the points 13 to the points ll-an'd spring-nap G is made to stand in the same inclined position,

its inner end 16 being, however, free to spring i up and down during the operation of sewing or stitching the pieces of leather together, as lwill be hereinafter more fully described.

Upon the upper side of the spring-flap G (shown in Fig. 6) is an S-guide, H, having a recess, 7c, on one side, anda recess, Z, upon the other side, said recesses being arranged relatively as fully shown in Figs. 4 and 7 of the drawings. a work-adjusting slot, m., is cut or formed, as 'indicated in Figs. 2, 6, 7, 10, and 1l.

The arrangement of parts as shown in Fig. 6 enables the operator to stitch or sew together by a lap-seam, n, two pieces of leather, I l', at the same time that a brace-piece, J, is stitched to their under sides. (See Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings.)

Fig. 4 isa cross-section on line y y, Fig. 6,

showing the relative position of the parts as they appear .during the operation of lsewing or stitching the several pieces of leather together. j

It will 'be noticed that` the pieces of leather In the center of the spring-nap G Y l if 1 both: passi .over the upper side of the; i

spring-nap G, while'the inner edgee of the pieceV I runs in the slot l, while the inner edge Y p ofthe pieces of leather 1f runs in the recess i Y j Y i y kof the: S-guide H,Vfastened to thej top :of

:spring-nap. G,;and the ybrace-piece J 'runs be- Y tween theside bars FYand under' thespring i Y ilapG. Consequentlythecentral row of stitches passes through allthreepieces of the leather, Y Y

whilethe outer rows of stitches 91.' n! only pass: Y i

throughtwo pieces of leatherV-V-viz.,the braceand alsoto the .fact that the operator of the Y piece VJ and: the piece of leather I; on i'fheright` 1 Y Y Y .handside, or the brace-piece J and the piece i fof leatherl? on theleft-hand side. Y. Y Y

. if the parallelinner edges of theside bars 1 4F extendedfrom end V,toend ot the bars, the Y brace-piece J would be entered withdifcnlty Y .i V;

Ynnlessi Vit was cutV much narrowerrthanthe; j

space between thebars, and l. haveheretoiore Y Y Y Y -found byY practical experience that .if the Y Y :edgesothebars are parallel thewhole dis- Y tance there -isgreat liabilityoi making Vunf even work,rowingtothe canse above named,

Y machine is apt to stretch: or pullthe brace for i i Y thepnrposeof makingzit enter readily, there-V Vby rendering the width o the brace uneven,

which permits it: toslipzfrom :one sidetotheE ,i Y

other, so that itdoes4 not .run even and true,

andit was toobviatesuch difficulties and ob- Y 1 l Y l Y i jectionsthat: il devised; and ,invented the: Y. Y combination ofthe'angular.edges.withtheV Y Y Y Y ,parallel-edges of: saidbars F', abonaCiescribed. Y

stand thatby the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 the brace J can be cut of the right width to just ll the space 'between the parallel edges .of the side bars Fl and still be entered with ease and facility, since it first passes between the convergingfedges of the side bars F.

For the purpose of enabling the attendant to feed the brace-piece J forward, so as to be caught by the needles, (which feed the work in this class of machines in a manner well known and understood,) a slot, m, is formed in the spring-Hap G, whereby the attendant with a pointed instrument can reach the end of the brace and push it forward until it is moved over the needles, or within range of their action, and this slot is very convenient to enable the attendant to start the brace if it happens to get caught during the operation of stitching or sewing the parts together.

The same combination of the parts G F Fl can be used with advantage in sewing a bracepiece, K, to two pieces of leather, K' K', already stitched together, and having a welt, q, stitched into the seam, as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9.

Having described my improvements in sewing-machines for manufacturing boots, shoes, and other goods, what I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is`

1. The combination, withthe vertical presserarm, of presser-foot D', provided with projec- Those Skineain maart-.vin entwendet-i ff tion D and flaring. springs g g, arranged as hown and described, and for the purposes set Orth.

2. The combination, with the thread-carrier B, provided with a series of thread eyes Or fingers, of hinged arm 7 and link-piece 5, arranged as shown and described, and for the purposes set forth.

3.' The combination, with the needle-plate of a sewing-machine, of aspring-ap arranged between side bars, and provided upon its upper side with an S-guide, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, With' the needle-plate of a sewing-machine provided with two or more needle and aWl slots, Of tWO side bars having parallel and angular inner guiding-surfaces, as described, and a spring-Hap of corresponding shape, and provided with a Work-adjusting slot, substantially as described.

JOSEPH H. WALKER.

Witnesses:

THOs. H. DODGE, EDWIN E. MOORE. 

